This interview with Legs McNeil, who co-authored the book, “Please Kill Me,” with Gillian McCain took place at his apartment on St. Marks Place in the East Village in 1996. I had known Legs for three years when I conducted this interview with him. I first met Legs in 1993 when I had moved to New York and I had written for the magazine Nerve, which Legs was the editor-in-chief. “Please Kill Me” is a great book and the definitive oral history of the punk rock scene from the Velvet Underground to Iggy Pop to CBGB’s.

In the interview Legs talks about the interviewing process for the book which involved just about everyone who was involved in the New York punk scene back in the 70’s and 80’s including, Danny Fields, Iggy Pop, Debbie Harry, Richard Hell, Joey Ramone, Paul Morrissey and David Johansen, among many others. He also discusses working with his co-author Gillian McCain, how the book was received when it first came out and how at one point he wanted to “deck Patti Smith!”